Sunday, July 26, 2009

I guess this site is up and running now. Updates will be sporadic for the moment, but they will be more frequent as the trip approaches, and daily once it starts. This is my first blog, and you will be mostly hearing it in my voice. I'm Mick, I'm 24, and I'm from Sydney, Australia. I did a 3 year acting course and then got a job as a supermarket manager. Not the most sensible of career moves, but it has allowed me to save the money for this trip. My girlfriend Alex, also 24, is doing this trip with me. She is quitting her job in a pharmacy to come on the road with me. She sings and will hopefully keep me driving on the right side of the road. Her biggest challenge is going to be packing her life into a 55 Litre pack.

This is a rough itinerary for my trip I made in Google Maps (if it doesn't work click here). As you can see, it's pretty long, especially for winter. But I lived in Michigan for a year in 2003, so I think I know what I'm getting myself into. Los Angeles is the starting point, and Alex definately wants to go to San Francisco, so I'm thinking we will head straight out of LA to there, before returning to go to Disneyland on our way to Vegas. Apart from that, I want to see the Grand Canyon, and drive up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis. Mum has a friend in Houston and Traverse City, Michigan is where I stayed as an exchange student so those two places are definates on the itinerary. I would like to snake South again after that, all the way down to South Carolina, and head back up through Virginia to Washington DC and finally New York.

It will be a difficult drive, but over 80 days it shouldn't be too gruelling. Especially if I do lots of driving while I'm eager and cross to New Orleans by about Day 15, that should give me plenty of time to stop with friends in the Mid-West and on the East Coast.

GLAD YOU COULD JOIN US

My girlfriend Alex and I are leaving our jobs in Sydney, Australia and starting out from Los Angeles with nothing but a van with a mattress in the back. Bear with us while we get the ball rolling and figure out the best spots to go looking for wifi access to keep this blog up to date. It may come in spurts and starts, but there will be an entry for every day. We will be covering more 7000 Miles as we snake our way across the continent, sleeping in Walmart parking lots, and relying on some good American hospitality.